If All Is Fair
by NutmegAngel
Summary: Opal 1 and 2 are loose in the world, with a plan for revenge. But Artemis has a plan too. And while Holly may not be too enamoured with it, it's the People's only hope of survival. A tale of love and betrayal in a world falling apart at the seams.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Holly, or the Irish Sea._

**Chapter 1**

Holly closed her eyes against the glare of the sun for a few moments, breathing in deeply. Surface air. Maybe it was tinged with pollutants, but it was still a lot better than trying to breathe water. A lot, lot better.

She inflated a special compartment in her suit, though it took a while as she had to do it manually, so that she wouldn't drown, and looked around. At least it wasn't raining, although the clouds did look a little threatening. But she was avoiding the reason she was here. And, at the same time, the fact that she looked like being here for a long time. Total electronic failure. Unheard of. Particularly in equipment designed by Foaly. He built about a dozen fail safes into every single piece of equipment. But she _had _experienced total electronic failure, and so her wings _had _stopped working and so she _had _blown up her air pocket manually when it should have inflated automatically, and she _was _sat in the Irish Sea, roughly equidistant from each coast.

Ireland, she decided, was her best bet. More deserted, less likely that people would notice her. She couldn't shield constantly, it would drain her of too much energy and she'd never be able to keep it up all the way. Therefore, Ireland was her best bet. And perhaps, if she was clever, she could find some unattended clothing and then she would look vaguely human. Provided nobody looked too closely at her ears. And if they did, well, provided she didn't drain all her magic shielding, she could always use the mesmer on them. So, glancing up at the sun to gauge the direction, she started to swim.

She realised at once that being partially inflated did not help matters, and so, reluctantly, she allowed the air to escape and set off again with a steady breaststroke. In theory, she could keep this up all day—she was in good shape physically, and even if she hated swimming with a passion she could do it—but the cold water was starting to sap her strength already. The odds were stacked against her. She was without any way of contacting Haven, had no power and therefore no heating, no navigation systems, no wings, no camouflage, no nothing. All of the gadgets she relied on unthinkingly were useless without power.

As she swam she started to wonder. There was, after all, nothing else to do. What was going on? Why had power cut out so suddenly, no warning flickers, no low battery warning as it were, though the tiny nuclear chips used by the Fairy people to power just about everything in existence went on for forever and a day, lasted longer than the product itself? Had someone done it? Some sort of blocking signal maybe, or sabotage, telling the electricity to cut out at a certain point above the ocean? How could every piece of equipment have turned into dead weight in only a few short seconds?

Like any LEP officer, Holly had her enemies. She'd just never thought they'd go this far. Well, apart from Opal and Opal that was. But one was in prison and the other was on the run. The one on the run might even have gone back to her own time, though that was a little like wondering if the sun would shine on a bank holiday. In theory, the one on the run had no access to the kind of technology that would allow her to cut out all electronics within a certain area, but sabotage was always a possibility. Even if Section 8's headquarters was supposedly impregnable, she'd heard once that where there was a will, there was a way. And Mulch Diggums, when asked to help test the security, had broken in. Ok, they'd taken note of that, but Opal Koboi was a very, very smart pixie, she was capable of finding a way in. She might even have used Mulch, but Holly quashed that thought as soon as it entered her mind. He had gone straight, he claimed, more than that, he hated Opal as much as she did.

As Holly swam on, she wondered whether anyone would ever come looking for her, whether the humans would find her body. She could see very little hope, but while there was still breath in her body, she'd just keep on going. Artemis knew she was coming, but she didn't hold out much hope on that front. Ok, so he had a helicopter and he could fly it, but... Well, she was only very small, wouldn't stand out much even if he nearly flew over her, and the Irish Sea was such a large place. Foaly would realise what had happened though. Maybe. Even if he ruled out complete equipment failure, it was bound to show that something had happened, he would send someone. If he knew where to send them. Unless this taking her out the picture was the preparation for something big. Why start with her then? She was only a captain, and although Section 8s complete anonymity had been blown what with the whole demon thing, there was still a very limited number of people who actually knew where she was and what she was doing.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: So far, I don't own any of the characters, or, unfortunately, the Irish Sea (although I guess since it's international waters, nobody really owns it...). Only the plot is mine._

**Chapter 2**

Holly wasn't aware that she was sleeping until a figure appeared in her dreams, glowering at her with a beet-root red complexion. Normal. He wasn't particularly angry at the moment. There was a cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth, and Holly could almost smell the noxious fumes emerging from it.

She knew she was dreaming when she saw him, because Root had been dead for months... No, years. She still got confused sometimes, about how long ago things had happened. Because two years of her life had disappeared whilst thwarting a potential attack by demons in another dimension.

Although she knew it was a dream, it still made her smile. She missed him, because he was, in many ways, the closest thing she had to a father.

"Wake up Captain Short," he ordered.

Holly mumbled something, some sort of excuse, asking why it was her he was telling to wake up. He should pick on all his officers fairly, it was wrong to just have a go at her.

"I told you to wake up." His face was turning a deeper shade of beetroot. Holly shifted position a little, muttering under her breathe. "I said, wake up!" It was a roar this time, and so Holly did as she was told and jerked into alertness, to find herself slowly slipping beneath the waves.

She kicked out strongly, spitting out water, wondering how she had managed to fall asleep without inflating her suit again. Easily, she realised, as she forced herself to swim on. It was going dark, she could navigate by the stars. Just about.

She was cold, beyond cold. And there's very little a fairy hates more than cold. They hadn't adapted to deal with it. No need. Haven was warm enough, the tunnels were just fine. It was only when you were up here, on earth, that it became a problem. She was shivering, soaked to the skin, and thirsty. Amazing, Holly thought, that she could be thirsty whilst in the midst of all this water, but the reality was, she couldn't drink any of it. Too salty. And probably so polluted that it would screw her insides into knots and just make this whole thing twice as worse as it already was.

And then she saw it.

A light, a beacon. Flashing. Lighthouse, she assumed.

A glimmer of hope, a glimmer of light. Because it was dark, she'd be able to move around Ireland unobserved, hopefully make it to Fowl Manner before daybreak. If she could find Fowl Manner without any navigation aids bar the stars. And even the stars were not guaranteed, it could rain and block them out with clouds. But provided she could find land, she could survive. And she would find out exactly why her equipment had malfunctioned above the Irish Sea.

She struck out for the shore with renewed energy towards the shore, and as she swam, she remembered something. Mud Men had phone boxes. She could use a phone box, ring Artemis, wherever he happened to be, and then he could send someone to pick her up. That was the best plan she'd come up with all night. Then she would just have to hole up and wait for someone to come for her, and she could get to him, to get on with this meeting that the powers that be had decided was too sensitive even for fairy communication systems.

Holly scrambled on the beach wearily, dragging herself up past the surf line, not caring about the fact that she was steadily being coated in sand. Camouflage, in case she happened to run into any Mud Men out late. Maybe they wouldn't recognise her for what she was, a fairy. Ok, so they'd probably take her to be some kind of otherworldly creature, but it was a Friday night and any humans out and about were liable to be too drunk to care what she was. Hopefully she could find a phone box, and somehow get it to work.

The phone box was easy. Operating it wasn't. Being a shade under three foot tall meant that she could easily get to the actual telephone, and she had to crawl under the side to get into it in the first place. Ok, so she had to get up there somehow, she had to find a way of getting herself on a level with a human. Normally, that would've been easy. Because normally, she would've had working wings, which, even if electricity had miraculously been restored, may not work without now they'd been submerged in sea water for a long period of time. She shrugged mentally. Nothing she could do about that. So she'd just have to find another way.

Easy enough.

She leapt up, grabbed onto the shelf beside the phone where the copy of the yellow pages was kept, and pulled herself up. Now, although it was a bit of a stretch, and she wasn't sure what she'd do with the handset, assuming she could manage to get it off, she could do it just fine. It was a little cramped in this position, because three foot was fairly big to be stood on a little shelf, leaning across a telephone precariously to grab hold of it, but too small to be able to operate it from the floor. She would've been a lot happier if she could shield, because then no human would be able to see her, but they'd still see the phone, apparently moving without any propulsion at all, and that would be more suspicious than a small, child-size person using a pay phone.

She pressed the keys for reverse charging—she didn't carry human money with her, wasn't even sure whether this part of Ireland used Euros or Pounds, but it didn't matter.

"Tell him it's Holly Short," she said, when asked to say who was calling.

There was a brief gap, and then Artemis' voice.

"Holly? Where on earth are you? You're hours late, and... Things have moved on. I got a call from Foaly not ten minutes ago, asking if you'd arrived. He said you'd disappeared of your system and..."

"Slow down Artemis. I'm perfectly fine. Aside from being a little cold and wet. I'd appreciate a lift, but I have no idea where I am. I was over the Irish Sea when all electricity to my suit was lost. Including the power going to my wings. So I swam ashore, but no power means no navigation equipment, no transport, no nothing. I'm stuck somewhere."

"I'll come. I can track you down, follow the phone... I'm assuming you're calling from a phone box."

"Yes."

"That's easy enough to track..." She was aware of a tapping noise, although it was a little too fast to really be described as tapping. Artemis was a scarily fast typer. And then he came back on the phone. "You're not too far away actually. Only a couple of miles. I'll be there in about twenty minutes. Do you need anything?"

"I don't suppose you have any clothes my size. So a towel, and a hot drink and I'll be fine. Your sea is cold."

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"It would be. Anyway, I'll be there soon. Just you wait in the phone box, so I can find you."

"Sure."

Artemis hesitated a moment. "Take care."

"I've been taking care since before you were born Artemis," Holly snapped. "Just get down here now!"


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters mentioned so far. The phone box is mine though. And the plot._

_N.B: I've slightly changed the last few lines of the last chapter. It's gone a little weird there too, don't know why..._

**Chapter 3**

"Butler," Artemis called. "Holly's run into a little trouble. Do we have anything that would fit her? She's soaked, and her teeth were chattering when she called me. I'll need to drive out and pick her up."

His manservant, and close friend, appeared in the doorway briefly, before disappearing down the corridor.

"Perhaps something of the twins would fit her?" Artemis suggested."

"The twins stuff is probably a little small. She'd be better off with something too big. I'll get something of Juliet's."

"That'll be way too big!" Artemis tried to imagine it. Holly in Juliet's clothes. A tiny, slight elf in the clothing of a strong, tall woman who was at least twice the height of the elf.

"Better something than nothing. At least it'll be dry. Take Juliet with you. You never know on these things. If Holly's run into trouble, then there's a chance it could rebound on you."

"All right," Artemis conceded reluctantly. He had been hoping for a little time alone with Holly, but he could see the logic of taking someone capable of defending herself. Not that Holly wasn't. Artemis would be the last person to suggest that, because it would likely land him a nasty punch from the fiery elf, but she hadn't sounded like she was in a fit state to do much fighting, and she could only get worse now that she was out of the water. The night was cold, too cold for leaving a wet person hanging around.

They left Fowl Manner ten minutes later, and a figure that, if you'd looked very, very carefully, you might have seen as a vague haze, was watching closely. The figure assessed the number leaving, guessed the purpose. So Holly hadn't died. Well, that was only to be expected, perhaps even hoped for. Holly was much too important to let off just like that. No, the only way to deal with that particular fairy was very, very cruelly indeed. And Opal planned on doing just that. After all, it was thanks to Holly that she'd been buried underground for a considerable period of time, and her time was precious. After all, she couldn't stay here too long before she had to go home again, back to her real time. But in theory, she could discover exactly what she had to do from her latter self, although for now, she was more interested in making sure certain people were dead. Holly for instance. And that stupid, stupid _monkey _who was the root of all this trouble. And maybe, at the very end of it all, Artemis too.

Of course, that could happen now if Opal deemed it necessary. One phone call and the person she deemed responsible for all that was wrong with her life would be dead. But Opal would much rather be there to witness it herself. So when she contacted her ally, she gave specific instructions. Knock Holly around a bit, but don't kill her.

"You know Artemis, you could've sent Minerva to pick up Holly. She does live virtually next door to there."

"I could," Artemis acknowledged.

"So why didn't you?" Juliet asked, only half concentrating on driving. She only needed to half concentrate on driving.

"Because I highly doubt that Holly would trust her enough to go with her. After all, it's over two years since they last met, and Minerva looks a lot different to how she did then. And Holly doesn't particularly trust her anyway."

"Maybe. But Holly isn't stupid. She'd realise."

"Holly would knock her out or put her under the mesmer before Minerva could say or do anything."

"But..."

"Juliet, I appreciate what you're saying, but we need to get to Holly. Before anything bad happens. So just drive. I need to think."

Artemis was indeed thinking. Holly had been somewhat abrupt with him a few minutes earlier. Somewhat more than abrupt. He'd only told her to take care. He was sure humans and fairies said it to each other all the time. So why had she taken offence? No matter how many text books he had read on psychology it seemed that he could not get things right in his dealings with Holly. She refused to react how psychologists said that she should. That was a lot of the reason why he liked her though. He shrugged mentally. That was not important. He was supposed to be thinking about how to capture Opal, before something went terribly wrong and the course of history was reversed. Or altered. Or... Well, he wasn't entirely sure what would happen. Which was probably the first time he'd felt like that over a purely academic question.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. Apart from the dogs I guess. And maybe the phone box. Although Ireland might lay claim to that._

**Chapter 4**

Holly was shivering, hunched over, still sat on the shelf of the telephone box. She wasn't entirely sure where else to go. If a human came in, she supposed she'd have to use the mesmer on them, because if she shielded the vibration was liable to send her flying off the shelf. She was crunched up in a ball, her arms wrapped around her legs, as tightly curled as she could get in a vain attempt to retain at least a little body heat.

And then she heard them.

At first, she paid it no heed. After all, barking dogs were a common feature of many Mud Men's towns, and she assumed these to be no different. A tiny spark of paranoia though, told her to be ready. Not that she was much use without any power—she wouldn't have any gun either. Or any buzz baton. She told herself not to be so stupid, that it was just a perfectly normal phenomena to take place in a normal Mud Man town.

But the barking came closer, and then the door to the phone box was pulled open by a figure wrapped up in a shadowy coat, who stood back, out of the way, shielded by the door, and two dogs leapt into the close confines of the space, with more outside, barking excitedly. A female voice told them to shut up. It sounded vaguely familiar.

And then the first dog in leapt up at her, its jaws opened wide as though it were hoping to swallow her whole. Holly shifted back a little way, but it was no good. The dog was huge, much taller than her when it stood on its hind legs. Which it did, resting its forefeet on the shelf.

Holly scrambled up, on top of the phone itself then. A little extra height, a little extra distance from the slobbering monsters, even if it was almost negligible.

She drew her buzz baton. Even without a charge, she could at least still hit the dogs with it. Maybe that would discourage them. Especially if she used the fairy's gift of tongues to try and persuade them that attacking her was a bad idea.

She barked a few times, telling them to back off, telling them the owner was a more interesting prospect, but they weren't listening to her. She hit the nearest across the snout, watched it yelp and stagger back, before leaping at her again.

They were too tall, could reach her even up here. One sunk its teeth into her foot, and although a swift charge of blue sparks stopped the bleeding almost before it started, Holly still felt a jab of pain. The magic couldn't stop that before it started.

She smashed her uncharged buzz baton onto its head, wishing that she had power. The dogs would soon leave her be if she had a decent charge running through her weapon. Or if she had a working gun.

Another dog leapt at her, and Holly smashed it in the face before it could come close enough to do any damage to her. But her hands were still went from the sea water, and clammy and cold too, not gripping properly. And so the buzz baton fell from her hand, leaving her effectively weaponless in the face of these huge dogs.

Holly looked around desperately. What could she use? The phone!

She grabbed it off the hook, and started lashing out wildly with it, smashing it into the faces of the approaching dogs. There was a third in the phone box now, a little crowded down there, especially with a fourth trying to get in. Probably the most dangerous phone box on the planet.

"D'arvit," Holly swore furiously as the phone was snatched from her grasp by one of the dogs. Now she really was sunk. If only her equipment was working...

But it wasn't, so it was no good dwelling on that. She had to get out of the phone box and higher up. Difficult without wings, but perhaps not impossible. If she could climb onto the roof of the telephone box, she would be safe from the dogs. Maybe not from whoever was controlling the dogs, but she would at least be safe from the dogs.

She punched the highest up window of the phone box until it shattered into a billion fragments. Blue sparks sealed the cuts the shower of glass caused, but she knew she was starting to run low. Repeated healing was one of the most draining activities known to fairy-kind.

It was a good job, Holly thought, that she was in one of the knew style phone boxes that had only two windows per pain. Even she would've struggled to fit out one of those old ones with the tiny glass windows.

She wriggled round, leapt out of the window before curving back in, latching on to the top of the phone box. But it was smooth and slippery and she could get a grip on it. She cursed angrily as she slid off and down onto the pavement, landing on the broken glass. Now she really was in trouble.

The dogs came leaping out, snarling, yapping as they stepped on the broken glass, but she knew it wouldn't slow them down, not really. She had to get somewhere they couldn't follow. But how? She was now smaller than them, with no way of flying, only jumping. Wherever she could jump, they could easily follow.

Holly grabbed one of the larger fragments of glass desperately, swung it at the advancing dogs. They were coming slowly now, they knew they had her, knew that she was sure to fall to them.

And then, she heard the sound of a car engine, a squeal of brakes, yelps as something connected with the beasts and they were flung every which way and a tall girl with a long black braid appeared like a mirage.

"Juliet," Holly breathed. She dropped the glass shard, and Juliet scooped her up, running back to the car, leapt in and slammed down the accelerator, not bothering to put Holly in a separate seat, not bothering to strap in.

Holly closed her eyes until Juliet slowed the car and passed her back to Artemis, sat in the back seat.

"Greetings Holly," he said, smiling.

"Leave it to the last minute why don't you?" Holly muttered, but she too was smiling. Artemis passed her a towel. She wrapped it tightly around herself, snuggling into it, trying not to shiver but unable to help it.

"You ok?"

"Another five minutes and I wouldn't be, but yes, I'm fine. Now, what was this development you were talking about?"


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: The plot is mine. Apart from that, everything is Eoin Colfer's._

**Chapter 5**

Before Artemis could answer, his mobile rang. He glanced at caller ID. A picture. A picture of a very pretty girl, only a year younger than him, and with perfectly straight blonde hair. She could have been a model, or an actress, had she wanted to. But Minerva had an IQ which was about equal to Artemis'. He flipped his phone open.

"Hey Min," he said casually, glancing at Holly to judge her reaction. None. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. A very slight frown as she tried to work out who he was speaking to. But she was shivering too much for it to be really noticeable. "One sec," he interrupted the girl on the other end. "Juliet, put the heating on higher." A blast of warm air assaulted him almost immediately. "Ok, what was that?" He listened for a long time, sometimes laughing, an easy laugh, a light-hearted laugh. Like any eighteen-year-old might laugh with a girlfriend they liked a lot.

Holly glared at him, then her foot started tapping impatiently. If Artemis said there was a development, and he said it in that serious voice of his—not that she'd ever really heard him anything but serious—it meant something bad had happened. And therefore Holly wanted to know, because she was already starting to get suspicious. Equipment malfunction, possibility that Opal from their time had been helped to escape by Opal from the past... It all added up to a rather worrying picture. One that she wanted to get a handle on as soon as possible.

"Juliet?" she asked at last.

"What?"

"What's the development?"

"How should I know? Artemis doesn't tell me things like that."

"Great. Who's Min? Anyone I've met?"

"Minerva."

"Oh." Juliet thought that perhaps she detected a hint of jealousy in Holly's voice. Maybe even a little more than a hint of jealousy.

"Min, I've got to go. There's something going on here, a situation," Artemis continued with a glance at Holly. Holly did not look happy. At all. And he had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't just to do with the fact that she'd been abruptly dumped in the Irish Sea. He laughed at something Minerva said. "Of course it's not dangerous. I swore of that stuff ages ago, you know that. Fairies? No, of course not. I haven't been in touch with Holly for ages."

"You haven't?" Holly asked, giving him a funny look. Artemis ignored her and flicked his phone closed.

"I don't want her involved. No need for her to go on Opal's hit list as well. Anyway, the development. Both Opal's are now on the loose. Half an hour after you left, the first Opal broke in and freed our Opal. They..."

"They need different names. Opal from the past is Opal 1, Opal from now is Opal 2," Holly interrupted.

"Yes. Fine. As I was saying, Opal 1 has now freed Opal 2, but the magma flares were playing up and so you couldn't be contacted at first, and then when everything came back on line, everything but you came on line. I think. Foaly assumed it was just a temporary glitch, he said he was able to get in touch with you soon, to tell you what was going on..."

"I completely lost all power. That's not a temporary glitch. I fell into the Irish Sea, somewhere in the middle of it, and had to swim here. That's not a glitch. That's either sabotage or a disabling device."

"Not a disabling device. Otherwise it would affect everything in the area, including aircraft."

"Then it was sabotage."

"It would appear so."

"But if Opal 1 was busy setting Opal 2 free, then it couldn't have been her."

"Could've done it at any time. Makes no difference to the end result. She must have known you were going to come visit me some time, she must have known that a certain time into the flight you were above the sea, so it was a simple enough matter to set it off n hours after activation."

"My buzz baton doesn't work either."

"Oh."

"And that doesn't leave my side."


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: Do I have to put this on every page? Oh well. None of the characters are mine. Only the plot is._

**Chapter 6**

_Three jets crossing the Irish Sea yesterday disappeared. It's believed that total power failure led to ditching, as a handful of survivors picked up by fishing boats claim that mid-crossing the cabin suddenly went dark and the aircraft went down. Reports suggest that not even emergency power sources were able to operate. This comes along with two large ferries and a number of smaller boats also being plagued with electrical failures. Investigations are under way..._

Holly flicked the radio off and looked back at Artemis.

"All right, so she's got some kind of beam which is capable of disabling all electrical appliances," he conceded. "But she was, in theory, busy rescuing Opal 2 at that point, so it can't have been her.

"Half an hour after the flares started playing up, everything but me came back on line. Half an hour is plenty of time to get to the surface from Haven if you have a pod and a flare." Holly stifled a yawn, rubbing her eyes with her fists. It had been a long day, and it looked like getting longer. "You're the genius Fowl, you come up with a plan. I'm going to sleep."

She curled up in a ball before Artemis could say anything, and Artemis sighed. Why was it always left to him to come up with a plan? But as it was, he already had the glimmerings of an idea. The only trouble being, it used Holly as bait. And Holly might not appreciate that at all. He decided to talk it through with Foaly. That centaur had a brain, and he could use it. With a little luck, he would have an alternative idea. But Artemis had been through everything he could conceive already, and this was the only viable way.

He left Holly asleep on his sofa, and went up to the computer room. It was a very good job that his father was away with the twins and that his mother knew about the fairies anyway. He hadn't been left with much choice, after Opal 1 possessed her for a time in an attempt to steal a lemur. His mother had always said she wanted to meet Holly, and was incredibly curious about how he managed to kidnap a fairy and hold her to ransom—the catalyst that sparked his involvement with the People.

Artemis had answered her questions as best he could, but her last question, asked with all the perception a mother has, he could not answer. Even to himself. 'Do you love her?'. Did he? He knew that he thought of her as more than just a friend, that was for sure. She was as much a part of his life as Butler was. They'd experienced an unforgettable intimacy when they were travelling back from the demon island and had shared consciouses, but she was a lot older than him, and they were different races. How could it work? She would outlive him by far, it wasn't exactly fair to put her through that. And she probably had someone back in Haven, someone he'd never met. She'd never spoken about anyone, and there had been that time they kissed... But what about Min? She expected that they'd marry one day. His father expected that they'd marry one day. Butler expected that they'd marry one day. They were just waiting for him to present the ring.

He shrugged mentally and opened a video link to Section 8's headquarters. The centaur was waiting for him with an anxious look on his face, and Artemis suddenly realised that Foaly didn't even know that Holly was alive. He cursed himself for forgetting to get a message through straight away about what happened, but it was too late for that now.

"Any news about Holly?" Foaly asked. "I heard the reports of electrical failure in the Irish Sea, do you think she's been affected? It would explain why..."

"Yes, she was affected. But she managed to swim ashore. I'm just back from picking her up."

"Is she all right?"

"Tired. Drained. Snappy. Other than that, she seems to be fine. I don't think she has much magic left though. She was attacked by a group of dogs."

He saw the relief wash across Foaly's face, and again cursed himself for not telling the centaur early. This caring about others' feelings was new to him though, and for just about the first time in his life, Artemis Fowl the Second was making mistakes. A lot of mistakes.

"Listen, I have a plan to catch an Opal... And I also think it doesn't matter which gets sent to the past."

"Our Opal has no magic because she had a human pituitary gland inserted. Nice try, but it wouldn't work. What about all her memories?"

"I suppose."

"What's your plan to catch an Opal then?"

"You won't like it. But it's the only way I can see."

"What's your plan?" Foaly asked. "There's not much Section 8 can't do. We're pretty much free of any control by the Council. The only member who's involved is Wing Commander Vinyaya, and she is pretty relaxed about the rules."

"That's not why you won't like it."

"Why won't I then?" Foaly was a little worried now. If it wasn't because it bent the fairy rules a little, then what was it. "We can't exactly do anything that goes against the book, that doesn't work."

"I know. It doesn't. It's just that... We'd have to use Holly to draw them out..." Artemis finished outlining his plan, watching Foaly's expression change from concern to outright anger.

"You're right, I don't like it," Foaly snapped. "D'arvit, you can't use her like that... What're you going to tell her?"

"The truth. She still hasn't forgiven me for last time I... Anyway, the only way she can do what needs doing is if she knows exactly what's happening."

"I don't like it at all."

"What choice do we have?"

"If you can get Holly to agree to this madness, I can sort things out at this end. But if this goes wrong, the Council will want heads to roll. Vinyaya too. And Trouble."

"Who?"

"You don't really know him. Commander of the LEP. Good friend of Holly."

"Oh. I take it I don't want him angry with me."

"No. You certainly don't."

_2 Questions: About how long are these normally? And the other one: Does Opal ever use her magic in the books?_


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine._

**Chapter 7**

"Artemis!" came a demanding screech from the living room. "Who on earth is this girl? And why is she asleep on our sofa?"

Artemis muttered something under his breath, and Foaly, detecting a few choice swear words raised an eyebrow at him.

"My mother has found Holly asleep in our house."

"Oh."

"Exactly. I think I'd best go rescue her."

"But... What're you going to tell her?"

"The truth. She knows already. After being possessed by Opal, it became kind of difficult to hide the fact that you exist from her."

Foaly sighed. "Go rescue her then. And make sure you tell me what the final decision is. And please don't force Holly into it if she doesn't want to do it."

Artemis tried to look innocent and failed. But before he could say anything, his mother's voice rang out again, and he switched the computer off, hurrying out the room.

"Mother?" he asked, stepping into the living room. Holly was still curled up on the sofa, apparently asleep. Fear clutched at Artemis' heart. They'd been through too much together for it to end like this, for her to die from hypothermia or pneumonia.

"Artemis, I walked in here, to find this child asleep on the sofa. I want an explanation, and I want it now."

Artemis hesitated. "Well, she was... She fell into the Irish Sea. And then... There were dogs... She's... She's a friend. And so I went out to help her, and brought her back here."

"Oh." Angeline Fowl knelt down before Holly, tickling her chin. "Hello little one, I hope you're all right now... Artemis, what's her name?"

"Captain Holly Short." He pushed his mother roughly out the way and checked for a pulse. Weak, but there. How did you cure a fairy? With magic, of course, but he no longer had any. Unless... "Mother, I need to go now. I need to take her with me, and we need to find an acorn. It's a full moon tonight."

"You need... to find... an acorn." Angeline repeated slowly. "And it being a full moon influences that how?"

"Magic. I said the fairies have magic, they get it from planting an acorn picked on the night of the full moon. There's a full moon tonight. Therefore, I need to take Holly and I need to find an oak tree in a specific place... There's no time to go into the details." Artemis ran into the hall. "Juliet!" he yelled. The tall, blonde girl appeared a few seconds later. "Get the car running. Holly's out of magic, and the dunking has made her ill."

"She should've changed in the car," Juliet muttered. But she ran outside anyway.

Artemis awkwardly picked up the small fairy and staggered after her. Carrying things was not his strong point. Even when that thing happened to be a lightweight, black widow pretty fairy, who's life depended upon him. Were the circumstances different, he thought he would've quite enjoyed the sensation of Holly's head resting lightly on his shoulder, of her elfin frame pressed against him. But Holly was seriously ill and he was only praying that completing the ritual would work for him in the same way it worked for fairies. After all, it was fairy magic he'd stolen. Maybe the fairy ritual would give it him back again.

And if not, well, it might work if he could somehow use Holly's hand to plant an acorn, but she had to pick it too, and that would take time and it would be a little difficult to try and manage that.

"Head for Tara. Fast."

"All right," Juliet muttered. Artemis could see that she wasn't happy with him. With his behaviour. She saw his answering the phone and talking to Minerva for most of the journey back as the reason Holly was now unstirring, save for an almost imperceptible shivering. Understandable. He could almost see it that way himself, but not quite. He had to speak to Minerva, else she would have suspected something was up, and if that happened, she would muscle in on it. And Artemis didn't want Minerva caught up in this battle.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but the plot's mine. Sorry it's taken so long to get this up.  
_

**Chapter 8**

Artemis strode confidently to the most famous of all the magical sites, Tara. He'd been here before. Several times before. It wasn't even that inaccessible. Not compared to the site he captured Holly at. No, Tara was much simpler to reach, and, though he could not see them properly because they were shielded, Artemis knew there were dozens of People around.

He walked up to the oak tree and plucked an acorn, moving slowly and carefully, as though he were on a completely casual, random outing. The People would be watching him closely. Would they recognise him? He'd become somewhat famous, or maybe infamous, amongst them. There was a chance one of them would try to take him down. A slim chance, but a chance all the same. After all, fairies were, thankfully, peace-loving creatures.

Juliet followed close behind him, Holly's limp frame draped over her shoulder, and Artemis forced himself to ignore parallels between this and that time in the Arctic. Now, the most important thing was to help Holly. He walked some way from the tree, Juliet still on his heels, until he judged he was far enough way. He pressed the acorn into the soil, as deep as he could, and then scraped a little more dirt over the top. Nothing happened. Maybe Holly had been wrong, maybe he was wrong, maybe he wasn't irrevocably changed by fairy magic, maybe it hadn't become a part of him. But after maybe fifteen seconds, when Artemis' finger was still trailing dejectedly in the ground, afraid that this wouldn't work, a solitary blue spark wound slowly up his arm and sank into the skin. There was a pause, and Artemis wondered if that was it.

And then a bombardment, an impossible experience to describe, and he fell to the floor, twitching slightly as sparks leapt from the ground and into the body. The whole area seemed to thrum with life, and his senses felt twice as sharp as they had ever done. The attack subsided gradually, and Artemis stood shakily. The world seemed clearer, and he could feel power buzzing beneath his skin, sizzling through his veins. He'd originally stolen only a few sparks, nowhere near to the power a fairy wielded when 'running hot'. Now he knew what it felt like, and he knew that he would never be the same again, could never be the same again.

"It worked then," Juliet stated. Artemis nodded. "You'd best do it quick, her pulse is very irregular." Artemis nodded again, and Juliet lay Holly upon the floor.

Artemis was aware that dozens of fairies, maybe up to a hundred, were watching him closely, to see what he would do. They would recognise Holly, she, at any rate, was well known, despite nearly three years outside the fairy world. He knelt beside her, lay his palms flat on her chest, and whispered 'heal'. He said it in Gnomish, as if that had some magical properties of its own. Maybe it did.

Blue sparks streamed from his fingers into Holly, targeting the lungs and cuts on her hands he saw only now, now they were illuminated by a dull full moon in a cloudy, threatening sky and leaping tongues of magic. Holly twitched a couple of times, and then she opened her eyes and looked straight at him. One blue eye, one hazel eye, each identical to those in Artemis' own head. Artemis removed his hands and Holly stood up.

"So the Ritual worked."

"Yes."

Holly jumped up, plucked an acorn, and started walking away, in the direction she knew they would have left the car in. Artemis followed reluctantly, not wanting to leave this magical place.

"We'll leave the People to their celebrations then," Holly stated, trying to make him move faster. Showing up with a human at Tara was probably not the best thing. The rumours would be flying wildly by the time she got back. She might need to disappear for a while.

Artemis nodded slowly, and Juliet smirked to see him completely tongue-tied, almost shell-shocked. She took her place in the drivers seat, and Artemis slid into the rear with Holly. She was no longer shivering, and her sharp, elfin features were set, determined.

"We need to find both Opals."

"I know. I have a plan."

Holly raised an eyebrow. "Is it a good one?"

"It's the only one."

"Well that's great. Explain."

So Artemis did. And she didn't like it one bit, but she could see no other way. Reluctantly, she nodded her agreement. Both Opals were more keen to take her than Artemis. There had already been two attempts. There would be a third sooner rather than later. All Artemis was asking her to do was precipitate that. She made only one modification. She was taking a sharp knife, just in case. She didn't trust weapons with an electrical component any more. Not when Opal appeared able to switch them off at will.


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine unfortunately._

**Chapter 9**

"Hello Arty! Come on in, and your little friend too. She's quite welcome to go and play with the twins if she wishes. What's your name sweetheart?"

"Capatain Holly Short at your service Ma'am," Holly snapped, saluting smartly. Hopefully that would be enough to shut the woman up.

Angeline's eyes opened wide. "I had no idea you'd be so small..."

"I'm tall enough," Holly snarled, her hand straying towards her buzz baton. Maybe it would be working now. She did not like height jokes. She was a centimetre under the average height for an elf, and those in the LEP tended to be taller than average. So, she got plenty of that, besides the stick she used to get for being the first female in Recon. And while those days were behind her, she still resented being looked down on, either because she was small or because she was female.

Angeline took a step back. Artemis had said that Holly had a bit of a temper, but she hadn't thought elves would be this fierce. After all, they were always such cheerful creatures in folk lore. She apologised and leaned towards Artemis, ignoring the fact that they were still on the doorstep.

"This is the Captain you said about then. The one who helped you."

"The one he kidnapped," Holly butted in.

Artemis looked away. "Yes. There was that too..."

"You kidnapped her! Good Lord, why?"

"I needed money to fund expeditions to find Father..."

"You never told me about that! You said that you met Holly to arrange a deal to rescue your Father, not that you kidnapped her to get funds..."

"I did. Just afterwards. Anyway, this isn't helping anyone now. Holly, we need to get moving, before Opal has a real chance to gather her forces and come after us properly."

"Arty...."

"Mother, I am trying to do the right thing for no reason other than that it's the right thing..."

"And if you don't catch Opal you're as dead as I am," Holly butted in, twirling her useless buzz baton.

"Well, I suppose there is that," Artemis conceded. "But we need to get on with the plan."

"Yes. I suppose we do."

"Can't it wait until after dinner?"

Holly glanced back to try and find Juliet, to plead with her to come running in and rescue her again. She'd rather go back and face those dogs than stop here and talk to this silly Mud Woman, even if she was Artemis' mother. It appeared her son had not inherited his intelligence from her. Juliet was nowhere to be seen, had gone round the back to park the car and avoid Artemis' mother. She knew exactly what Angeline could be like with young children. And while Holly was hardly a young child, she looked sufficiently like one that Angeline would try and treat her as such.

Juliet realised the potential for confrontation at about the same time Artemis agreed to wait until after dinner. She smirked to herself, and decided it might be an idea to head back into the house and watch the blue sparks fly.

"Juliet!" Angeline cried. Juliet appeared, just as she was supposed to. Though the smattering of mud on the bottoms of her trousers from trekking across the fields to Tara were not part of that particular image. "We have an extra guest for dinner. Please ensure there's enough."

"Of course Mrs Fowl."

There was a knock on the door. Despite the fact that they were all stood in the hallway, Juliet was forced to push politely past them to get to it. Holly as forced to stifle a chuckle at the ludicrousness of the situation. They were far nearer to the door than Juliet, but protocol had to be followed. No doubt they'd all race off now, so that the guest, if they were important enough, could be received in the sitting room.

A girl stood there, in skimpy clothes, her long, perfectly straight blonde hair covering more than the black miniskirt and the pale pink crop top. She tilted her head to one side and looked past Juliet to see Artemis stood in the hallway. She pressed past Juliet, her hips swinging gently from side to side. She may despise the modelling profession, but she sure as heck did a good job of copying what models did, brought the catwalk down to the streets. She put an arm round Artemis and kissed him passionately, before whispering: "Hello Arty."

Artemis smiled and pulled her tight in against himself, his heart pounding like it did every time she was around him. "Hello Min. What brings you here?"

Minerva laughed. "Please don't tell me you've forgotten about our date. I was coming round for dinner here, then we were going on to the movies."

"Of course I hadn't," Artemis responded quickly.

Minerva leant up and kissed his nose. "Don't lie. You're too bad at it. Maybe with your parents, but not with me. Don't forget, my IQ is just as high as yours."

"All right, all right, I had. But it's hardly..."

Minerva lay a finger over his lips. "It's hardly what? Important? Your fault? You know it is Artemis. Please have the decency to be straight with me."

"I'm sorry Min."

Holly was tapping her foot again. Juliet quickly pushed past the two lovers, picked her up as though she were a child, swinging her up onto her shoulders, ignoring the yelp of protest, and marched into the kitchen.

"Put me down!" Holly snapped once the door closed behind them. "What were you..."

Juliet set her down on a high counter top. Holly slid off and started pacing, her buzz baton out. She flicked the on switch, out of curiosity, and a grin lit up her face when she heard the familiar sound as it activated. She moved towards the door, stretching up on tiptoes to reach for the handle.

Juliet's hand fell onto her shoulder. Holly swung out instinctively, catching the human on her shin. Juliet yelped and took a quick step back.

"What the hell did you do that for?" she snarled, her hands clenching into fists.

Holly glared back up at her, not intimidated. She kept the buzz baton charged up, swung it easily in wide, lazy arcs.

"Put that damn thing down!"

"Why?"

"Because... Because..." Finally Juliet shrugged, gave up looking for an answer, and hopped up to sit on the counter. She'd be in major trouble if Angeline came in and saw her sat up there, but the woman never went into the kitchen. "What'd you hit me for?"

Holly shrugged and reached up for the door handle.

"Where you going?"

"To get Artemis away from that stupid kid and concentrating on this plan of his. I think I've found a couple of loop holes."

"Don't. Otherwise Minerva will insist on joining in, and then Artemis won't be able to concentrate. And he won't be so impressed if you wallop his girlfriend with that thing." Juliet rubbed her leg where Holly had clipped her.

"Arty," Holly muttered scathingly, but she switched off the buzz baton and climbed up a stool to perch on top and stare into the mid-distance, her fingers drumming on the counter.


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, only the plot. Sorry about the huge gap between publishing chapters, I've been working on my own stuff which was nearly published but then wasn't because of small print on the Amazon book publishing thing :(. Anyway, here's the next chapter, and I might even manage to finish it soon. I might have even worked out what Artemis' plan involves!_

**Chapter 10**

"That was Holly?" Minerva whispered, sliding closer to Artemis. She was already practically sat on his lap in the living room. The twins were on the floor, rolling around and playing some crazy game. It did not take much imagination to see the two of them as the parents, rather than older sibling and girlfriend.

Artemis nodded.

"She's so much smaller than I remembered. I mean, I only met her for a few moments, but I remember everything that happened then and I could've sworn she was taller."

"You're taller," Artemis pointed out. "It's a matter of perspective. You remember her as being not that much smaller than you, because she wasn't. Now that you're..."

"All right, all right, I know. What's she doing here?"

"There's a situation. Opal... Both Opals... Have escaped and are running loose. And they're trying to kill both of us. She was nearly killed this morning."

Minerva wrapped her hands around his neck, kissed his ear. "Is it dangerous for me to be here?"

"I hope not. I sure hope not... Listen, Min, I won't be around a couple of days. I have to sort this out."

"You won't be spending time with that Holly, will you?"

Artemis laughed. "You're not jealous are you? Please tell me you aren't jealous. She's nearly a hundred years old, probably got some fairy boyfriend back home."

"I'm not jealous." Minerva kissed him again, and Artemis drew her closer. They stayed like that until Artemis noticed the twins giggling and making puking noises and pulled back. Minerva smiled, looked him straight in the eye. "How could I be jealous? No, it's just that she always seems to get you into danger. Every time you get tangled up with the fairies, something bad happens, someone nearly dies, and your luck can't last forever. Look at the laws of averages for heaven's sake. I lost you for three years. Three years Artemis."

"Calm down Min, calm down." Artemis kissed her neck. It was the most convenient point that wouldn't lead the twins to start mucking around even more. They were still staring at him and smirking and making smooching noises. He didn't bother to tell them to stop. They wouldn't listen. They didn't listen to anyone but Juliet. "She's got me out of trouble more times than she's got me into it."

"Maybe," Minerva conceded reluctantly.

"Listen, I have a plan, it's not maybe the most ideal, but things are far from ideal and I'm sure it will work. Here, I'll tell you if that'll make you feel happier about it."

"I guess."

Artemis dropped his voice so the twins wouldn't overhear, and talked her through it, answering her questions, giving up every part of his plan. Even the parts he hadn't discussed with Foaly and Holly.

* * *

"If you're going to sit there and stare at me like that, you may as well make yourself useful," Juliet said at length, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them. Her leg still hurt, but she had decided not to make an issue of it. It had been her fault, in a way. Butler would probably have reacted the same. Heck, she probably would've reacted the same.

"How?" Holly asked curtly. "I'm not exactly tall enough to reach the stove or anything like that. And my idea of cooking is to pull a smoothie out the fridge."

"You could carve the roast I'm sure, if you were to..."

"I'm not touching that thing," Holly hissed, sliding off the stool and landing lithely on the floor. She stalked towards the door. "I want to know more about this plan of Artemis'. He's only told me the first little bit of his plan and..."

"Sorry," Juliet sighed. "I'm not used to having veggies around."

Holly stiffened. "Say that again why don't you?" The buzz baton was back in her hand.

"I'm not used to having vegetarians around. What's wrong with that?"

"Oh." Holly put the baton away. "I guess it's a cultural thing. Not polite to call someone a veggie in Haven. You'd probably get attacked by a battalion of angry LEPrecons if you said that to them."

"Sorry." Juliet ran her fingers through her hair. "I didn't mean any offence... You like that weapon, don't you?"

"Wouldn't you if you were three foot tall and surrounded by humans with no other defence?" Holly demanded. "What the heck is that idiot up to now? Sorry, genius. I don't suppose you could really call him an idiot. I'm gonna go stick this charge up his..."

"Calm down Holly. What's getting to you? You're not jealous of Minerva are you? I mean, how could it ever work between you and Artemis? You're different species for heaven's sake! Now.

Since you don't eat meat, what would you like to eat?"

Holly shrugged. "Whatever. I'm not that hungry."

"What's the matter with you today?"

"Nothing. You got that? Absolutely nothing."

"All right, all right. Sit down again."

"Or what?"

"Holly, you don't want to go in there and interupt Artemis and Minerva, trust me on that one. You

don't want her in on the plan, do you?"

"No."

"Right. Then you'll just have to be patient."

Holly didn't sit down. She paced the kitchen with her baton out in her hand, twirling it around. Juliet watched her for a moment until she decided that it was probably wiser to let Holly get on with being angry and do her job of cooking for the family.


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, only the plot. I think I know roughly where this story is going now, which makes a change. And it's a snow day today, so I might even be able to get another chapter up._

**Chapter 11**

Holly was sat down next to the twins. She was not especially appreciative of that. It hadn't been Juliet's choice, but Angeline insisted upon it. To her mind, Holly was a six-year-old kid, not a tough fairy older than she was. To Holly's mortification, she was put on a booster seat, so that she was high enough to reach the table. She longed to grab one of the twins, spin him round, smash him over the head of the other. She couldn't tell them apart, it didn't matter to her which was used for throwing and which was the recipient of the blow, but they were doing her head in, constantly bickering with each other over the tiniest of things.

Matters weren't helped by the presence of Artemis Fowl Senior. She'd saved his life in the Arctic. He too thought she was six years of age and was ignoring her as though she was. He didn't know why she was at the table, nor did he particularly care for the reason. He just assumed she was a friend of the twins. He wasn't aware of the existence of the fairy folk, and Holly was determined to keep it that way. Bad enough she was sitting having dinner with humans, forced to watch them tear apart what had once been a living animal. Worse that she had to endure the blatantly obvious flirting of Artemis and Minerva. Unbearable that she couldn't whip out her buzz baton, wallop the pair of them soundly over the ears, send Minerva to sleep, and drag Artemis off so she could grill him about this marvellous plan of his. Which she was convinced was not the best he could come up with.

At least, she decided, she had the steak knife next to her plate. With luck, she wouldn't have to use it now, but she was determined to take something of the kind with her. It was nice and sharp, and even though she'd no experience using a bladed weapon in combat, it couldn't be all that difficult to using a buzz baton surely. Well, apart from the obvious. And why wasn't Juliet sat at the table with them? And where the heck was Butler? Butler should've been here at least. Maybe he was eating in the kitchen with Juliet. Because they were hired help and therefore not worthy to eat with the Fowl family and their guests.

"How's school Holly?" Artemis Senior asked. He quite obviously didn't care.

Holly bit back the immediate answer that came to mind—not appropriate for the twins' ears, and probably not the greatest idea in the world—and struggled to think of something. What had she done at school when she was a kid? Finger painting. Got into fights. Helped her mum with the cooking. "Ok," she said at last. That was a studiously neutral answer. He couldn't read much into that. And she wasn't lying. School was ok. Provided she wasn't in it.

Artemis Junior smirked to himself. Holly felt her fingers curling round the steak knife. She had better leave before she did some murderous damage. She slid off the chair, landed awkwardly.

"I need the bathroom." She walked out before anyone could make any kind of response.

As she'd expected, both Juliet and Butler were in the kitchen, eating scraps that they'd salvaged from the meal, the potatoes that weren't quite the right crispness, the biscuits that hadn't turned out the right shape. An American recipee apparently. Holly had been persuaded to stir the mixture. They tasted all right she had to admit.

"What you doing with that knife?" Juliet asked.

Holly looked down at it, realised only now that she'd walked out with it. "I was considering killing Artemis with it."

Butler looked somewhat alarmed.

"Relax big guy. I walked out before I could do it. I thought he was bad enough before Minerva turned up. Now..." Holly shook her head. "He's different."

"He's more caring," Butler stated flatly.

Holly snorted. "To Minerva. Little..."

"All right, none of that language," Juliet interrupted. "Can't have the twins overhearing."

"The twins are in the other room."

Juliet scowled. "They have a nasty habit of appearing just where you don't want them."

"Tie 'em up."

"Ey?"

"Tie 'em up. Stops 'em appearing where you don't want 'em." Holly smiled wickedly. "Best place to tie 'em would be round the neck. They'd soon learn the art of staying still."

Juliet frowned. "You know Holly, that sort of thing isn't really smiled upon here on the surface of the earth. I dunno what it's like in Haven, you've never let me come, but I suspect it'd be the same there."

"I wish," Holly muttered.

"Pardon?"

Butler was starting to feel a little out of place. He suspected that some sort of girly crying session was about to come, with Holly admitting to having a terrible youth at the hands of a cruel father, and he did not want to be present for that.

Holly smiled. "Doesn't matter. Reckon I can get away with not going back?"

"Probably not."

Butler started edging away.

"Where you off to big guy?"

"Holly, will you stop calling me that? It gets rather annoying."

"Why do you think I do it?"

Butler rolled his eyes. "Look, I've had Mulch on my case for the past few months, and..."

"What's he been up to? He's supposed to be staying underground and running the business with Doodah."

"Who?"

"You don't know him. Anyway. What has he been up to with you and Artemis?"

Butler shifted uncomfortably. "You probably don't want to know."

"So he's not as reformed as he likes to make out."

"Well, maybe not entirely," Butler admitted. "But you'd better go back to the table before you're missed. You..."

He broke off as the wall exploded around them. Screaming, from the other room. Butler ran towards where the Fowl family was eating, Holly ran outside twirling her buzz baton over her head and yelling. Distraction, Juliet wondered, or part of Artemis' plan? Had Artemis known? Was that why he'd insisted that Butler and herself stay away, so that they could not spoil his plan? Stuff the plan, she wasn't leaving Holly to face whatever had done this on her own.


End file.
